Wednesday Newsletter
No-contest plea to lesser charge in Mass. Ave. death
UPDATED, July 11: A 68-year-old Arlington man pleaded no contest on Wednesday, July 9, to a charge he was driving with an expired license last December when his car struck a woman in a Mass. Ave. crosswalk.
Paul F. Giragosian still could face a more serious charge in the death of Elba "Lucy" Ortiz-Delgado, 77, of North Cambridge, once a lengthy police investigation has been completed.
At Cambridge District Court in Medford was Juliet Blackett, a neighbor of Ortiz-Delgado who secured the woman's remains last winter after no next of kin was found.
Giragosian, of 68 Lake St., entered a plea waiving a jury trial before Judge Michele Hogan.
A charge of failure to stop for a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk was dismissed. A responding police officer did not see the accident. Mrs. Giragosian testified she was a passenger in the car Dec. 19 and heard the car hit "something metal."
She said Ortiz-Delgado was dressed "in dark clothes." Asked by her attorney whether she had seen Ortiz-Delgado as they approached the crosswalk, she said, "no." Asked whether Ortiz-Delgado had been in the crosswalk, she said, "no."
The expired-license charge was continued until Oct. 9.
Chief Fred Ryan said recently that the case remains under investigation by his department. He wrote: "As you know, our investigation involves interviewing of operators, witnesses and collection of evidence at the crash scene, etc., as well as a crash analysis done by the state police.
"Once the investigation is complete, the matter will be handed over to the Middlesex DA’s Office for any decision on what, if any, other criminal charges will be sought."
Giragosian's attorney, Peter Bella of Waltham, said Friday, July 11, that his understanding is that State Police wiorking with the Middlesex district attorney's office are continuing to investigatre, but said he does not know what remains.
Bella defended Jared Remy, who pleaded guilty in May in the death of his girlfriend. Jared is the son of Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy.
The assiatnt district attorney handling the case for the commonwealth is Radu Brestyen.
Just before 10 p.m. on Dec. 19, Giragosian was driving with a license that expired in June 2013 when his black Mercedes struck Ortiz-Delgado, who was pushing a walker with a basket in a crosswalk at Orvis Road, near Sabatino's, police said. She later died at Mass. General Hospital.
Initially described as homeless, Ortiz-Delgado lived in the Daniel F. Burns Apartments, a Cambridge Housing Authority property, Blackett told YourArlington in January.
Subsequently, Blackett arranged, and paid for, Ortiz-Delgado's cremation. The woman's ashes remain in her apartment at Burns, and she continues to seek relatives.
The Mass. Ave. Corridor project, which is underway, includes plans to improve the intersection where Ortiz-Delgado died. The longest crosswalk without a signal on Mass. Ave. in Arlington is due for changes, as described by the Word on the Street blog.
Dec. 21, 2013: Further charge possible in death at long Mass. Ave. crosswalk
Jan. 8, 2014: Lucy: ‘She was no longer with us in this world’
Feb. 25, 2014: Lucy: A friend seeks a proper end
This story was published Wednesday, July 9, 2014, and updated July 11.
Your Businesses

Chamber update: Networking at Regent June 8

New Broadway Plaza shop helps dogs celebrate
Latest comments
Housing Authority
Housing authority leadership welcomes first Latina
Tenant president, representative flex authority
Your People
Longtime resident recalls how Red Sox gave her hits she needed
Retired Arlington police lieutenant dies at 58
FACEBOOK BOX: To see all images, click the PHOTOS link just below